To remember Peter Sellers is to remember a host of unforgettable characters. The Goons made him famous. Inspector Clouseau made him rich. Dr Strangelove gave him artistic respectability, while I will always remember him as Chauncey, the backward gardener of Being There.

His anarchic comedy still influences comics today. But Sellers the man, like so many comedians, was convinced he was an empty vessel, without any personal substance beneath his characters.

This book attempts to reveal that his creativity outweighed the darker debilitating madness that plagued him. His life was tormented, with divorces, affairs, alcohol and drug abuse.

But why this book should suddenly appear 20 years after his untimely death leaves me perplexed. Sikov attempts to cover every angle, but we have nothing new here. When it comes to books on Sellers, there are better ones.